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Providence honors shooting victims with special ‘Sandy Hook’ jerseys

When Providence coach Ed Cooley watched TV news coverage of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn., over the weekend, he decided he wanted to honor the victims in some way during the Friars' next game.

As a result, he called the school's contact at Nike and asked if the shoe-apparel giant could send fresh uniforms in time for Tuesday night's home game against Colgate.

What Nike provided Providence were green and white jerseys with "Sandy Hook" on the back in place of the players ' last names. The Friars chose the unfamiliar color scheme because green and white are Sandy Hook Elementary School's colors.

"I can't thank Nike enough because we felt we had to do something to acknowledge what those people are going through in Connecticut," Cooley told the Providence Journal. "I couldn't watch all this without being moved, like so many people. If we can show the people there that we're thinking of them, I hope we've helped."

In addition to the green jerseys, Providence found a handful of other ways to honor those impacted by the school shooting during their 79-45 rout of the Red Raiders.

[Related: Giants' Victor Cruz visits family of Sandy Hook victim Jack Pinto]

School officials kept 26 upper-level seats empty and placed green ribbons on the chair backs under a banner that read "Newtown, Connecticut: We Have You In Our Thoughts and Prayers." Players wore green and white sneakers to match their jerseys and cheerleaders wore green ribbons in their hair.

For Cooley in particular, the school shooting touched home since he coached from 2006 to 2011 at Fairfield University, which is only 25 miles south of Newtown. Credit Cooley and everyone else at Providence for a classy gesture of support.

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